The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.

IOWA CITY — Iowa’s Board of Regents has hired a new Des Moines-based government and public affairs firm with ties to Republican heavy-hitters like Gov. Terry Branstad to lobby on behalf of the University of Iowa this upcoming session.

The board in late November signed a contract with LS2group — founded in 2009 by a former regional political director with the Republican National Committee — to “represent the interests of the board and the university before the Iowa Legislature and the executive branch.”

The contract is a first of its kind for the Board of Regents — which historically has tapped individual state relations officers on staff to advocate and lobby on behalf of the three public

See Full Page